Mail-bag catcher and deliverer.



No. 7I6,777. Patented Dec. 23, I902.

13. w. STRNBLEN.

MA": BAG GAT'GHE'B AND DELW EBEB.

F Application filed Sept. 9, 1902.)

(No Model.)

{Sheets-Sheet I.

we ymims Perms 5a,. Pnorournu ow L c NITED STATES :ATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. STANGLEN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN H. GRILL, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

MAIL-BAG cATcl-iss AND DELIVERER. 1

SPECIFICATION formingpart Of Letters Patent NO. 716,777, dated December 23, 1902. Application filed September 9, lllOZ. Serial No. 122,718. No model-3 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. STANGLEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers and Deliverers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to mail-bag atchersc and delivering devices; and one object of the same is to construct a device which can be used for catching and delivering mail-bags, parcels, train-orders, 850., from trains moving at a high rate of speed and which will be simple in constructionand efficient in operation, which will not drop the bag, and will hold the same without injuring it.

Another object is to construct a device which will conduct the bag from the door of the car to any part thereof.

The novel construction employed by me in carrying out my invention is fully described in this specification and claimed, and illus-, tratedin the accompanyingd.rawings,iorming a part thereof, in which- Figure l'is a plan view of my device, part of which is mounted on a mailcar and part on masts alongside the track. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail of the bag and chain.. Fig. 4 is a perspective of a modified form of the moving part of my device. Fig. 5 is a detail of the track within the mail-car for guiding the bag.

Like numerals of reference designate like parts in the different views of the drawings.

The numeral 1 designates the door-opening in the side 2 of a car. Extending transversely the opening 1 isa shaft'3, bearing an arm 4 for use as a handle. The shaft 3 is supported in boxes 3 and is allowed a small amount of longitudinal movement to break the force of the impact of thebag.

Extending at an acute angle to the shaft 3 and toward the forward end of the train is catcher 5, comprising two guides 6, which are parallel to each other for the greater portion of their lengths, but diverge near the points 6 thereof. A spring-catch 7 is mounted intermediate the guides 6 to prevent the bag from being accidentally disengaged from the 50 catcher 5.

in the same plane with the catcher 5 is a holder or deliverer 8, which points toward the rear of the train and comprises two parallel guides 9, slightly turned out at the ends 9. A spring-catch 10 is mounted between the arms to keep the bag from being accidentally disengaged from the deliverer.

Bigidly mounted on a mast 11, set at the side of a track, is a combined catcher and holder or deliverer. The catcher 12 consists of two guides 13, which are united at 14 and extend parallel throughout the greater part of their length, but diverge at the points 13". Upwardly-bowed ties 15 hold the guides 13 from spreading. The catcher 12 is inclined upwardly from the horizontal to retard the movement of the caught bag, and a buffer 16 is mounted on the rear upper end thereof for curved outwardly. Spring-catches 22 prevent the accidental disengagement of the bag from the deliverer.

In order to be picked up or delivered by my device, a mail-bag 23 of ordinary construction is looped in a chain 24, which bears a hook 24: on one end and a shank 25, provided with a ball 25, on the other. In the operation of picking up or catching mail-bags the shank '25 and ball 25 are hung between the guides on the deliver-er in the end pointing in the direction in which the train is going. As the train comes along and approaches a station the mail-clerk will grasp the handle 4 and throw it down, thereby raising the catcher 5 into a horizontal position with the diverging ends 6" moving parallel to the guides 20 on the deliverer 19 as the train progresses. The catcher 5 will pass beneath the deliverer 19 and embrace the shank 25, which will pass along between the guides 6, when the friction caused thereby will disengage the shank and ball 25 from the deliverer and leave it in the embrace of the catcher, after which it 1 parallel guides extending at an angle to the may be disengaged and stored away in the usual manner.

In delivering mail from the train the shank is slipped between the parallel guides 9 on the deliverer 8 and the bag hung up by a link of the chain on a hook 10, seated in the car. As the station is approached the deliverer 8 is raised into a horizontal position by using the handle 4, so that when the car comes opposite the catcher 12 the shank 25 will come opposite the entrance to the guides 13, and it will be deflected thereinto by the diverging ends 13 and will pass along and be disengaged from the deliverer 8 by the friction on the guides 13. After the bag is disengaged the momentum will carry it up the incline until the shank 25 encounters the buffer 16, which will bring it to a stop.

In the modified form illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 a shaft 26 extends across in front of a door 27 and bears an arm 28, which ex tends through a slot 29 in the car. A catcher 30 is connected to the shaft 26 and is formed of two guides 31, which are tied together by a U 31. The rear ends of the guides 31 are located opposite an aperture 32 above the door 27 of the car and bear lugs 34, which are located to engage the end of a track 35, which is constructed of two parallel rails 36, which are upwardlyinclined to take up the momentum of the caught bag. The track 35 is supported by hangers 37 and can be extended to any part of the car it is desired to stow the bags away in. A connecting-rod 38 connects the arm 28 to a lever 39, which serves as a handle for operating the shaft 26. A catch 40 is arranged to hold the door 27 closed, and a spring 41 is arranged to open the door 27 when released by the catch 40. Wires 42 and 43 connect elbow-levers 44 and 45 to the arm 28, so that when the arm 28 is depressed to raise the catcher 30 into a horizontal position the catch 40 will be operated simultaneously to release the door 27 to permit the spring 41 to open it. In other particulars the operation of my device is identical with the preferred form just described.

I do not wish to be limited as to details of construction, as these may be modified in many particulars without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, What I I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is I 1. In a device of the class described for picking up mail from way-stations, the combination of a shaft mounted on a mail-car, and

direction of the said track, substantially as described. I

. 3. The combination with a mail-bag, of a flexible member looped around said bag, a shank connected to said flexible member and bearing a ball, substantially as described.

4. In a device for delivering mail to waystations, a shaft mounted on a car and hearing two parallel guide-arms having diverging ends, said guides extending substantially parallel to the side of the car, and two paral* lel guides having diverging ends, said lastmentioned guides being mounted on a mast located at the side of the track and being in= clined upwardly and also inclined to the said track, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a bag suspended in a loop bearing a shank provided with a stop, paral* lel guides engaging said shank, and parallel guides mounted to cooperate with said first= mentioned guides to disengage said shank and bear away said bag, substantially as de= scribed.

6. In a device for picking up mail-bags, the combination of means for holding a mail-bag located at the side of a track, means for engaging said bag, located on a car, and a track mounted in said car and arranged to conduct a bag into the car, substantially as described.

7. In a device for picking up mail-bags, the combination of means located at the side of a track and arranged to hold a mail-bag, means mounted on a car and arranged to engage said bag, and an upwardlyinclined track arranged to conduct said bag into the car, substantially as described.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pair of parallel guides, constructed to hold a mail-bag, and a pair of parallel guides located to engage said bag to disengage it from said first-mentioned pair of parallel guides, substantially as described.

9. In a device of the class described, a pair of parallelguides, a mail-bag, a suspension member connected to said bag and bearing a stop engaged by said parallel guides, and a pair of parallel guides located to engage said suspension member to disengage said bag from said guides, substantially as described.

10. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pair of parallel guides extending substantially parallel to the track, a mail-bag, a suspension member connected to said bag and engaged by said guides, and a pair of parallel guides extending at an angle to the track and located to engage said suspension member to disengage said bag, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

' CHARLES W. STANGLEN. Witnesses:

BENNETT L. JoNEs,

FRANK G. RADELFINGER. 

